Farmers in Denmark can find good ideas for intelligent and sustainable ways to control problems with weeds, insects and diseases in their fields on an IPM website developed by the Danish agricultural advisory service. Much of the information on this free website is based on knowledge and experience gleaned from years of affiliation and cooperation with scientists involved in ENDURE.

“If we had not been part of ENDURE we would have had a different starting point with regard to implementation of IPM in Denmark. It gave us an advantage and was a huge step forward from the start,” says crop adviser Jens Erik Jensen (pictured above), from the Knowledge Centre for Agriculture. Jens Erik has been very active in promoting IPM and developing the IPM website.

The first step was to win farmers over to a new way of thinking. In this respect, being able to dish up concrete examples and results from not only Denmark but also other ENDURE countries has been worth its weight in gold.

“In the beginning, when we said ‘IPM’ farmers would say, 'That sounds like something expensive' or 'Does that mean we can’t use pesticides any more?'. Either that or they were convinced that IPM was just a load of hot air and political correctness. However, we managed to make it concrete very rapidly, partly with the aid of knowledge and experience from ENDURE,” says Jens Erik Jensen.

Many facets of IPM

The website, which can be viewed at
www.dansk-ipm.dk, has many facets, all of which are down to earth and practical as well as being evidence-based. There is, of course, a news section which offers updated articles and videos regarding IPM as well as links to Facebook and blog articles.

Every quarter the IPM website runs a new campaign theme. This year’s second quarter, for example, spotlights modern technology, such as sensors and GPS. Articles, videos, inspiration sheets and quizzes provide information about the highlighted subject, providing information on the 'how to' as well as costs and benefits.

The next theme will be variety mixtures and will include information on how to mix your own while maintaining a high yield and good pest resistance. “We will be using results from some of the work done in ENDURE for this theme,” says Jens Erik Jensen.

Short and to the point

The website is pervaded by the adage 'Keep it short and simple' and the inspiration sheets are a shining example of this principle. They are one-page, easy to understand and practical information sheets that get to the point on a wide range of topics, such as:

How to protect bees

Prevent resistance against insecticides

When should I hire a contractor?

How to test weeds for resistance

Checklist for spraying

Getting to know your grass weeds

“The inspiration sheets are used a lot. Many advisers use them at farmer meetings and in experience exchange groups. Farmers use them too. One popular inspiration sheet at the moment (July 2013) is the one outlining how to test your weeds for resistance. In Denmark, farmers can send their weeds to Aarhus University to get them tested for free. In this way farmers can avoid using the wrong herbicide the next time they spray,” explains Jens Erik.

Having fun while learning

A big hit on the Danish IPM website is the quiz called 'Test din viden' (Test your knowledge). I must admit I was also keen on trying to answer the questions correctly and got rather caught up in it. “We have had more than 1,600 hits on the quiz regarding spraying technique and 700 on the one regarding crop rotation. This shows that farmers and agricultural students are very interested in testing their IPM skills,” says Jens Erik.

Straight from the horse’s mouth

Demonstration farmer Torben Thomsen. Photograph: Dansk IPM/TH Agro

Another popular feature of the website is the one involving demonstration farms. Talented, leading farmers, who are viewed as role models, commit themselves to demonstrating how they do things in the spirit of 'Show it, don’t tell it' as the best mode of communication. One of the activities the farmers commit themselves to is to open their farms to visitors. More than 1,000 visitors came to the latest of these field events. The agricultural press is good at covering these activities which further promotes the use of IPM.

“The idea of having demonstration farms has gained foothold in Denmark as part of previous pesticide action plans, but has taken hold in other countries such as Germany and France and several other countries are considering it,” says Jens Erik.

Each farmer has one of the following themes which may develop and change over time:

Using GPS and sensors for more precise spraying

Early warning for potato rot

Using local climate data for improved early warning

Weed maps

Crop rotation and grass weeds

Using early warnings

Biological control

Torben's 970 hectare farm. Photograph: Dansk IPM/TH Agro

One of the farmers is Torben Thomsen, who, together with a business partner, has 970 hectares in addition to a large pig farm. His theme is weed maps and precision pest management. He enjoys participating in the IPM website activities. "It is exciting to be part of something that affects all farmers in the European Union. As a demonstration host I would like to play it down and make it less dramatic. Farmers are becoming more open to hearing about IPM,” he says.

Advisers and ENDURE

Aside from harvesting input for the IPM website, adviser Jens Erik has benefited from his association with ENDURE in other ways. He has established a good European network.

“For me, the most important result of ENDURE is that I now know colleagues and researchers in neighbouring countries. It is much easier to call someone and you commit yourself more to helping when you know each other,” he says. For the most part ENDURE has consisted of researchers. They discovered that if they were to disseminate their knowledge to farmers it would be necessary to involve local advisers. To support this, Jens Erik established the ENDURE Network of Advisers (ENA) together with adviser colleagues from other European countries. Despite the fact that ENDURE is no longer funded by the European Commission this network persists - and with good reason. “ENDURE has quite simply become part of my network and of my way of working,” says Jens Erik.